Case Study
Tupelo Manufacturer: Two Mail Platforms, Two Cutovers, One 14-Hour Day
Joe Pennel ran two migrations and two cutovers to put a Tupelo manufacturer's mail on Microsoft 365, the last two days early.
Client: A Tupelo Manufacturer on Two Mail Platforms
Joe Pennel moved 50 IMAP users at a Tupelo manufacturer into Microsoft 365. Four users were already on Microsoft 365 and the other 50 were on IMAP. Joe ran it as two separate migrations with two separate cutovers. It is the kind of migration experience behind Netcosa’s managed IT services.
- A Tupelo manufacturer ran email on two platforms: 4 users on Microsoft 365 and 50 on IMAP
- Joe cut the Microsoft 365 side over first so the domain sat where it needed to be, then moved the IMAP users in a second cutover
- With the company split across two platforms, email between its own staff would not route correctly. A relay, rules and connectors did not fix it, and the IMAP side’s spam filter had no in-depth routing controls
- The internal routing problem was never fixed in the split setup, so Joe moved the all-user cutover up from Thursday to Tuesday night and finished the migration early
- The cutover day ran about 14 hours, and the phone was ringing at 6 a.m. when staff got to the office
- Internal email was the one place Joe said the client’s staff felt any pain
Challenge: Two Mail Platforms That Could Not Route Mail Between Them
The company’s mail did not live in one place. Four users were on Microsoft 365. The other 50 were on IMAP. Joe described the starting point and the order of work this way:
“They had 365 for four users and they had IMAP for the other 50 users. So I did two separate migrations, two separate cutovers because I had to cut 365 over first so I could at least have the domain where it needed to be.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
That split set the sequence. The Microsoft 365 side cut over first, so the domain would be in place before the IMAP users followed.
Joe did the initial cutover over a weekend, and mail from outside the company worked. Mail between the company’s own staff did not. With the domain now on Microsoft 365 and most users still on IMAP, internal email had to cross from one platform to the other, and it would not route correctly. The IMAP platform’s spam filter was not a next-generation filter with in-depth routing abilities, and it kept kicking that mail back because it was coming from a new place.
Joe set the Microsoft 365 tenant up as a relay and put rules and connectors in place. None of it fixed the internal routing.
Running email on more than one platform, with a cutover date on the calendar? A free IT assessment is the place to start. Schedule your free assessment or call (901) 306-7575.
Response: Two Cutovers, Then a Change of Plan
Joe’s order of operations:
- Cut Microsoft 365 over first. That put the domain where it needed to be before the IMAP users moved. The initial cut ran over a weekend and worked, except for email between the company’s own staff.
- Try to make the split setup route internal mail. A relay, rules and connectors on the Microsoft 365 side did not fix it, and the IMAP spam filter had no in-depth routing controls to configure.
- Move the all-user cutover up. The plan was Thursday. With internal routing still broken, Joe stopped trying to fix the split setup and finished the migration instead.
- Cut all the users over Tuesday night. The day ran about 14 hours.
Joe’s account of the decision:
“So I ended up cutting them over early. We were going to cut them over all the users over Thursday. We ended up cutting them over Tuesday night.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
Outcome: Migration Finished Two Days Early, With Internal Mail the One Rough Spot
The all-user cutover ran Tuesday night, two days ahead of the planned Thursday. Joe’s Tuesday ran about 14 hours and wrapped up around 1 o’clock.
“I think Tuesday was a good like 14 hour day. We wrapped up around 1 o’clock and then the phone was ringing 6am when they … got to the office.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
14 hours
Joe's cutover day on Tuesday, wrapped up around 1 o'clock. The all-user cutover moved up two days, from the planned Thursday.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Users already on Microsoft 365 | 4 |
| Users moved off IMAP | 50 |
| Migrations and cutovers | 2 and 2 |
| Cutover day | About 14 hours, wrapped up around 1 o’clock |
| All-user cutover | Tuesday night, moved up from the planned Thursday |
| Where the client felt pain | Internal email between staff |
Here is the full picture, including the part that did not go cleanly. Joe on how the client’s staff fared:
“All those folks down at Tupelo were super nice and super patient. They didn’t really feel any pain other than internal emails inside of that.”
— Joe Pennel, President, Netcosa
Internal email was where the issues showed up, even with the tenant set up as a relay and with the rules and connectors in place. That problem was never fixed while the company was split across two platforms. It is the reason Joe finished the migration two days ahead of schedule.
When the split setup could not route the company’s own mail, Joe changed the plan, and he put in the 14-hour day to make the new date work. That judgment is what Joe brings to Netcosa’s managed IT services when a migration plan meets a system that cannot do what the plan needs.
Planning an email migration with more than one platform in the mix? Talk to Netcosa about your cutover plan.
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